In this episode of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to IT, host Michelle Dawn Mooney sits down with Galvin Widjaja, CEO and co-founder of Lauretta.io, to explore the intersection of situational awareness, AI-driven infrastructure, and ethical design.

Widjaja’s journey defies expectation. From managing a family-run restaurant in Singapore to leading behavior-based AI initiatives with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, his career reflects a unique blend of technical innovation and human empathy. At Lauretta.io, he’s reimagining video analytics—not through facial recognition or biometrics, but by understanding behavior and context while putting privacy first.

The conversation covers:

• Why designing AI systems around intent and behavior—not identity—unlocks powerful use cases in environments like airports, retail, and military bases
• How Lauretta.io's privacy-first infrastructure mimics the value of cookies in the digital world—tracking context without compromising personal data
• Real-world examples where intelligent, non-invasive surveillance reduced threat response times from hours to minutes
• What it takes to unify fragmented data across airport checkpoints and deliver seamless security profiles in real time
• How IT leaders can implement privacy-aligned architecture through intentional data collection, risk calibration, and behavioral aggregation

Whether you're building smart physical infrastructure, advancing ethical AI, or modernizing situational awareness tools, this episode offers a bold look at what's next and how to do it responsibly.